FIG. 1 illustrates a “wet cleaning” or laundry processes 10 that utilizes water to clean or launder a wide variety of materials, including specifically textiles, namely commercial textile products, woven and non-woven fabrics, linens and knits, as typically known or practiced in the art of textiles and industrial textile cleaning. By way of example, the various types of laundered textiles can include clothing, gloves, equipment covers, wipers, towels, rags, filters, sleeves, gauntlets, capes, hoods, booties, boots, shoe covers, aprons, frocks, coveralls, suits, shirts, pants, lab coats, bedding or gurney sheets, drapes, mops or mop heads, commercial floor mats or walk-off mats, table cloths, napkins, and the like. In addition, the sources for the textiles that require laundering can include, but are not limited to, the healthcare, industrial, retail and hospitality industries.
As shown, a laundry process 10 generally utilizes water (e.g., from a municipal water source 20) that has been heated 24 (this step is typical, but optional) prior to introduction into a washing machine 30 that contains soiled textiles. The water is generally introduced into the washing machine 30 at pre-determined temperatures during the various stages or segments of a washing cycle, such as during a pre-wash stage, a break stage, a carry-over stage, a rinse stage, and the like. At some point in the washing cycle one or more chemical agents 40 or detergents are combined with the water in the washing machine, especially during the break stage, to form a wash or break bath in the washing machine 30. The washing machine is then operated to agitate the textiles within the break bath to loosen and remove the foreign material from the textile surfaces. The break stage is often followed by one or more rinse stages in which additional chemistry can be added to the rinse water bath to further clean or treat the washed articles.
The wash water with suspended contaminants is then disposed (e.g., into a laundry water recovery system or the municipal sewer system 50) for laundry water or heat recovery and reuse, and/or eventual processing at a waste water treatment plant. In addition, in some cases a water softening or water purification treatment 22 is applied to the municipal water to prior to heating 24 to reduce the build up of hard water scale within the heater and to improve the effectiveness of the chemical agents or detergents in the cleaning process.
Despite the broad acceptance of the wet cleaning processes 10 detailed in FIG. 1, certain drawbacks and disadvantages remain. For example, textiles that are washed in a typical laundry process often undergo abrasion and degradation that shortens their useful life. In addition, treatments that include the use of strong chemicals, including but not limited to nonylphenol ethoxylates (NPE's), are often required to clean adequately articles that have been heavily soiled. A need therefore exists for a wet cleaning or laundry process that is more effective in cleaning and less damaging to the textiles that are being washed, and that also allows for the use of chemical treatments that may be more environmentally friendly, or “green”. It is to the provision of such a wet cleaning or laundry process that addresses these and other needs that the present disclosure is primarily directed.